For those who are just joining us, I want to give a little catch up. Jola is the name of my Franconian mother-in-law. Each week we get together to cook a typical Franconian or Bavarian meal. This gives us a chance to spend time together and for me to learn all the cooking tricks she has perfected over the years. Really, we laugh a lot during this process and the food never disappoints. Read the first episode of Cooking with Jola here to follow along on our cooking adventures.
Episode 10 is kind of special. First, Krenfleisch is something that Jola does not consider to be one of her specialities, so I thought it was pretty great that she was willing to teach me to make it just because she knows I like it. Second, Jola has been struggling with a bad back recently and really needed to sit down for most of the cooking that day. This meant that I got to stand in for her while she told me what to do from the sidelines.
Krenfleisch is the Franconian name for the meal. The meat we used for this meal is called Tafelspitz. The cut of meat is known as Top Round in the US. We used 3 lbs, (1.5 Kilos). This is too much for four people, but Jola creates freezer bags with two person servings of the meat and the sauce. Then freezes them for an easy dinner sometime later. Krenfleisch is typically served with a creamy horseradish sauce, preiselberry marmelade (kind of like cranberries) and with Klöß.
First we cooked the meat and made the broth in what Jola always calls the “Schnell 
Topf” (pressure cooking pot with lid). The broth included leeks, onions, celery, carrots, pepper and Jola’s favorite spice combination/flavor enhancer: Telofix. Combine all of it and the meat in the pot with water.
Cover and cook for 45 minutes.
In the meantime, work on my favorite part of Krenfleisch, the sauce. This sauce would actually taste good on a variety of things. It’s creamy but has a nice kick from the horseradish. If you are vegetarian or opt for another meat, you could try making the sauce with vegetable broth and using it with something else. If you do so, please be sure to comment on this post and tell me how it turned out!
For the sauce you use two bottles of Horseradish (approximately 720g), (choose one that is hot but not too hot). Add a little bit of sugar, 1/2 a small container of heavy cream, and pepper to taste. *You don’t need to add salt because the Telofix contains salt and is already in the broth.
By now you will have removed the meat from the broth and set it aside. Next you want to strain the vegetables from the broth and set them aside. The next ingredient for the cream sauce is four tablespoons of the strained beef broth. Jola saves the strained vegetables for making soup later. “There is never a reason to waste anything,”–she always reminds me.
Next, stir the broth into the creamy horseradish mixture. Continue stirring and warming the sauce but don’t bring it to a boil. The directions for creating the Klöß are in the first episode of Cooking with Jola, but if you are without pulverized potato, it is ok to serve Krenfleisch with boiled, salted potatoes. Now you just need to cut the fat off the meat and slice it. Once its sliced, Jola adds it back to the horseradish cream sauce for a few minutes.
Now it is ready to serve. You can serve it covered with the Horseradish sauce with a Klöß and a side of Preisel berry marmalade. Guten Appetit!
Laurie's Franconia 